Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-06-11
DAN HOOPER, rag UNLUCKY.

house On the Do0ko OF inc cuOueuuOous nul
family consisted Of bis wifA mothsr-ia-lsw,
and several children and he supported them
nv fishing, hunting, snd workina - millers
assistant n mill about mile bslow.
Dan Hooper was Q character, and bore nc
| slight resem bIance to Rip Van Winkle. HIs
clothes were ragged, and he had gay, vaga.
bond air that put everybody In good humor.
He had the best heart In the world, and Wa
not deficient In shrswd sense. Only One
thing tormented him he was doomed To Ill
| luck or, to use his own expre ssi0n, he ives
I" the oniuckiost man
One morning In 1873, the year Of the great
freshet in the shenandoah, he put on his
ragged ha. to 40 10 the mill, when his
| mother -in.law, Mrs. wilkins, confronted
| him.
"Dan'l Hooper !" said Mrs. wilkins, in q
loud and stern voice, holdin. her arms
| akimbo.
"Yes, mum, F" raid Dan.
"Have you ted tho pig?"
Yes, num-
"pm the Oniuckies man But you know
people will forgit mum.
"Forgit! You cont forgit to stick that
| pipe In yo' mouth, DAnl Hooper
Now, as MrA wilkins herself had been
/ smoking y short, black pipe when she began
her remarks, this fierce denunciation seemed
| rather unreasonable. Ii may have struck
Dan Hooper in that light, but he made no
| reply. Long experience had told hun that
Mrs. Wilkins was more than his match In
| "I'm tue onluckiest man " he only said,
as II from baoit
..,, Yo9 never :, said a truer word m that,
| al s'pose there never was fel!er more on.
lucky, he added contem piatively. I" Here
| I'm 'bliged TO stump u the mill In all
weather with my rheumatic, and sin't got
| no clothes, anG-pot To make no illusions,
mun--no peace in the family.
40 Dan !" murmured his wife, who was
| always aiDg, how can you say that
Snow, II the house was near the mill, and
you was well, Marthy, and mother.in-law
was -" Dan stopped. II he meant to add
that the sickness or death OF Mrs. wilkins
would bs u grateful boon, a glance at the
lady sealed his lips. A terrible scowl sud.
d-nIy darkened her lace, ana Dan Hooper
disappeared.
see said wilkins, "that DAh'l Hooper
is the LATEST -
"Oh, no, mother you're too hard on him,
and wish you wouldn't talk to him so, "
murmured the poor wife " You know how
good he is 10 me and the children and hs
does most everything
"'Most everything h" cried Mrs. wilkins
what do you mean by 'most everything!
How would this house git along II 1t warn't
TOR the, I'd like to know Here l'm drudg.
in from mornn' to night TO keep you out o.
the poorhouse, aud this is all the thanks 1
git!"
Having thus asserted her merits, Mrs.
Wilkins put on An old hood, and, taking q
basket, lit her pipe, and proceeded toward
the river, only fifty yards dis aut Stepping
carefully from rock to rock, and over fallen
trees brought down by the current and
lodged against them, she at last reached the
tish-trap. 1t WAS one OF the old fashioned
description, consisting OF q sloping floor OF
narrow lath, with depressiOns resem bling
steps, and boarded sides. The stream carried
the fish over the series OF steps and thea
fall through, leaving them 10 Il )under hope
less in their prison.
Mrs. Wilkins was fond OF bass, and filled
her basket with superb fish. She then
turned u retrace her steps, when suddenly
she stopped. So intent had she been on
securing her favorite fish, that she had not
observed that the river was rising. Rains
sbove had swollen the waters, the Hood was
now rushing down, and Mrs wilkins saw
that there WAS not a moment to lose, for the
iedges OF rock upon which she had stepped
were rapidly disappearing.
the lady thon performed a ceremony that
rendered her appearances more picturesque
than graceful. Sac seized her linssy dress
bshiud, lifted II up nearly to her K knsss, aud,
pufiing vigorously at her pipe, plunged u
pair OF stout legs In blue wooden stocS ings
into the water. She hoped thers would bs
time to reach the shore, but there was not.
just rs she gained huge tree trunk lodged
"
lifted 1t from its place and bore it away The
last seen of Mrs. Wilkins by the family in
the log house WAS the smoke OF her pipe, aud
her hood wildly waving a. she disappeared.
Dan Hooper had meanwhile proceeded to
the mill, where he went to work at his usual
occupation, intercbanging now aud then
aiew words with the old miller on nsighbor.
mood news. A topic OF interest was the
Jerry about TO De established just below the
mill. The only trouble was to secure u
IBrry man living near.
"Weli, " said Dan, with a thoughtful air,
/" ] rather think that would just suit me.
My own idea of the hight way to live Is
smokln' pipe, and drawing a seliery, and
but what's the matter ~
Look yonder !" shouted the miller.
Dan Hooper looked, and saw the river
rushing by like racs-horse, and rising
higher every moment second shout OF
" Look out!" csl,et his attention to his
personal Ganser. The mill WAS trembling
from base TO summit, and miller and assist
ant fastened To higher ground, They sue
ceeded in reaching 1t just in time. The
furious current struck the wsStheT-board
structure, broke in the windows, filled the
building, lifted 1t from its foundation, and,
hurting the large water.wheel against 1t,
swept 1t oil down the river.
All had taken pl CO no suddenly that Dan
Hooper had no, had time to think of his wife
and children. Their danger now flashed
upon him, and he WAS about to run IN the
middle OF the river caused him to burst into
direction oil MS cabin when ap OBJECT IN the
laughter This OBJECT was Mrs Wi kius
astride the huge tree.trunk, rushing down
the river. Her pipe had never gone out, aud
she was smoking with hysterical putf,; her
hood was waving IN the wind, and she was
Clingtug to the tree, utteriug cries for help.
Ii Dan Hooper was nniucky, Mrs. vii.
kins was enc OF the fortunate class. Near
the site of the mll, the tree she was bestrid-
ing swept into au eddy the eddy bore it to
the shore, and IL rested amid the bOughs OF \
huge sycamore, nearly submerged, where 1t
WAS immOvnhle.
These trunks, perched in trees by freshets,
are met with all along the Shenandoah and
all the incidents here related are true.
Dan Hooper was thinking that it was per-
haps his duty to go to Mrs. wilkins assist
ance, when another cry came from the river,
aud ne turned suddenly in that direction.
His log house, containing his wife and
children, had been swept OIL by the freshet,
and was slowly floating by. At the window,
nearly under water, his poor wife, with her
arms round the children, was calling loudly
to him. Dan Hooper was brave fellow,
and, pungiag into the boiling current,
struck out tor the floating house. AS he did
10, II seemed coming to meet him. 1t had
been caught by the same eddy that saved
his mother-in law 1t turned round slowly,
approached the shore, aud finally rested
against huge sycamore and ceased to
LNove.
Dan Hooper swan to the house, and
climbing in, caught his wifs in his arma
Then no hug0ed all his children. and cried